The House of Blues

I should really call it the House of Broken Appliances, but House of Blues is appropriate too because I am NOT excited about all of the things that have been going wrong around here recently nor am I excited about the costs to repair:
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1. My computer..... it has a MAYjuh virus and to fix it will be $200. SO, instead I bought an SD converter so that I can use Mike's old laptop in the meantime and can still tranfer pix. However, his is on the fritz as well and it's a pain to lose all of my itunes and documents
2. My blender broke today!!! It, too, has been dying a slow and painful death over the past few weeks, and today was the last straw. While making Mike a Green Monster, my poor 9 month old Cuisinart made crazy growling noises and leaked green juice all over the counter and kitchen. This was a wedding gift so I'm hoping they will volunteer to fix it or send a new one despite the fact that I don't have the receipt!
3. The lock on my driver's side door is stuck in the down position. Not a big deal, except that I have to crawl through the passenger's side door in order to use it, which I've been doing for a while now but I have finally realized that I need to bite the bullet and get it fixed for safety reasons.
* On top of the above busted appliances, after trying on my work dress pants the other day I realized that my legs have apparently morphed in size and due to weight gain or muscle mass I don't know, but they no longer fit. So, I will be making some trips to Express and The Limited before going back to work next month! Shopping = fun. Shopping because you don't fit into your old clothes = not so fun...
* I also spilled breadcrumbs all over the kitchen counter and floor when the lid popped off on me - that was a good time....
* As was going to my car to find a note from my parking garage "neighbor" about how I need to park properly. Grrr. I would park properly if the lady on the other side would park properly.... ok ok, maybe it's my fault and I just don't like feeling guilty about it.
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All in all, with other purchases we will be making it's going to be an expensive month. I would love to know if you guys have any recommendations for what type of computer and blender we should get! I noticed that Best Buy has a combo blender/FP by Cuisinart - I can't decide if this is really awesome and convenient, or if it is a bad idea, much like the dreaded shampoo/conditioner combo that men seem to revere so much. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
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Breakfast at my parents' house this morning was just a cantaloupe since we were planning to eat an early lunch. It was delicious though! After going to visit my grandparents who recently moved to an independent living facility, we (them, my mom, my maternal grandmother, Mike and I) went to Papa Vino's for lunch, which is one of their favorite places. I probably had WAY too much bread and oil here - I loved how the served the oil with herbs and toasted garlic. I had this piece of bread times about 6!
I was craving a huge salad, and in my head I wanted an antipasto-type salad with lots of olives, etc. Nothing on the menu was vegetarian or vegan, so I ordered the steak salad without the steak, without the cheese, and without the pasta, haha. Waitresses must love me, I know ;)
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I basically ordered the salad with tons of veggies, extra olives and capers, the addition of tomatoes, and the roasted red pepper dressing. The end results came with no olives, but it was still very, very good!!! I loved the red pepper dressing and I am going to experiment with making my own sometime soon!
I don't think you can tell from the picture, but it was definitely of the Hugh Jass variety ;)
Back at the grandparents' new crib playing with Molly.....
Who likes to wear newspaper clothing it seems
On the train ride home to Chicago, I snacked on some "plumcots" my sister had given me from the farmer's market. I could have sworn that they were referred to as "pluots", but maybe I'm thinking of something different? They were a cross between a plum and a nectarine, and they tasted as such! They were very good, sweet, and juicy, with tiny pits.
Blueberz
And a Larabar... I do NOT know how I was still hungry after such an enormous lunch!!! I actually ended up not being a fan of this flavor at all. It was very, very tart and I just didn't care for it. But that's ok because there are sooo many other fabulous Larabars to enjoy instead :)
I've spent the evening at Best Buy and now I'm about to go finish my leftover salad which I'm pretty much drooling over just thinking about it! Hope it's good leftover!
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I'm gonna go post this and then go write another brief one about a couple topics that I think are interesting and important - so please check back soon so that you don't miss any of the excitement! ;)